I hope everyone survived the last week of snow! It was becoming ridiculous and quite scary how food supplies in the shops dwindled so fast. It's always bread and milk that go first and thankfully I bake my own delicious sourdough bread and had just stocked up on lots of organic flour from Waitrose, at 25% off! I can't resist a good bargain! It did make me very grateful that I can bake my own nutritious bread from only three ingredients and I actually consider it a life skill!!Wee plug for my upcoming workshops, where I share all my knowledge and tips on how to make sourdough, kefir, kombucha and fermented veggies so you can go away and make your own fermented goodies! It could be a life saver the next time there is a food shortage!!I only have one place left on Sat 17th March and one place on Sunday 25th March so contact me asap if you want to join the fun!

Anyway we could survive for at least a month. Our cupboards are well stocked with every type of pulses, grains and beans and I have a massive jar of fermented garlic in the fridge along with dried mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes and loads of onions! I also have lots of fermented veggies, packed full of probiotic goodness!My freezer is full of kale, spinach, frozen fruit and Alastair has a fish drawer full of fish! I only buy dairy milk for my kefir grains and can easily make milk from almonds, oats, cashews or rice, all of which I have lots of.It does make you think though how fragile our food system is and how long it would take for us to run out of food completely? Anyway I'm so glad the snow has gone and the sun is actually shining today and the sky is blue! Hurrah spring is coming! My favourite season!

So I've been meaning to share this recipe for a while. I posted a photo on Instagram a few weeks ago and lots of people commented on it.

It's one of those recipes that you can vary endlessly according to what veggies, lentils or beans you have available.I have made a few variations myself. The star of the recipe is good old Linda McCartney Veggie Sausages, a staple in our house, and only £1 per pack at Home Bargains! I always have a few packs in the freezer for weekend breakfasts and brunches! However they work really well in this hotpot/casserole and make a really delicious and healthy dinner!I love using up whatever veggies I have in the fridge, which I did a lot of last week, when we were snowed in, and I had a great time looking through my many cookery books for new ideas! Anyway this recipe I just made up so its simple but rather versatile and works great with a big pile of creamy mashed potatoes and steamed greens or with pasta, rice or couscous. Any leftovers can be eaten cold for lunch.You essentially cook the sausages in the oven for 15 minutes while you get on with making the sauce. Its a tomato based sauce with onions, carrots, peppers, mangetout, frozen peas or green beans with flavour from cumin, smoked paprika, mustard, and some tomato ketchup for a bit of added sweetness. I have made this with the addition of puy lentils, which I cooked separately then added to the sauce with the cooked sausages and also with kidney beans and I had a bag of cooked quinoa and bulghur wheat to use up so just added that too. You can essentially just use frozen peas, carrots and onions and a tin of kidney beans and tomatoes but be adventurous and add whatever veggies you have. Celery and mushrooms would work well too and any cooked grains, lentils or beans. Also spinach stirred in at the end is always a good addition and a great way of boosting your greens for the day!

So here is my basic recipe..

SMOKY SAUSAGE & BEAN CASSEROLEIngredients for 6 people

2 boxes of Linda McCartney Veggie Sausages

2 or 3 medium carrots, washed and sliced

1 red pepper, sliced

2 onions, sliced

1 cup frozen peas or mangetout or green beans, sliced

1 tablespoon rapeseed oil

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 tin kidney beans, drained

1 or 2 tablespoon tomato ketchup

2 tsp smoked paprika or paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp mustard powder (optional)

250 to 300mls veggie stock

sea salt and black pepper

Method

Firstly cook the sausages in the oven as per directions on the pack.

Wash and slice all your veggies. I sliced the carrots on the diagonal to look a bit fancy! Just remember not to slice the carrots too thickly or they will take longer to cook!

Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the sliced onion for 5 mins or so on medium heat. Add the sliced carrots, peppers, tin of tomatoes, 250 mls veggie stock, smoked paprika, ground cumin and mustard powder, give it a good stir, put the lid on and gently simmer for around 15 minutes until the carrots are almost cooked through. Add the drained kidney beans.

Add a bit more stock if it starts to dry out.

Add sliced mangetout or frozen peas and simmer for another few minutes.

Slice the cooked sausages into chunks. Again I sliced them diagonally into 3 per sausage but cut them whatever way you like. Add the sausage to the casserole and give it a good mix. Add one or two tablespoons tomato ketchup and check the seasoning. Adjust to your taste. Add more tomato ketchup if it needs more sweetness or more salt and black pepper. You can also add a tablespoon tamari if you have any, for a bit of umami flavour!

So I've been busy replenishing all my fermented veggies. All I had left was a sad looking grey kimchi and an equally sad lemon and dill kraut!I had forgotten how much I enjoy fermented veggies, just a tablespoon per day can boost your gut bacteria and give you a whole host of health benefits.I used to only make plain boring old sauerkraut with cabbage and salt but since I've discovered how versatile and delicious kraut can be I've been experimenting with lots of different flavour additions!

I currently have 3 batches on the go but this pineapple turmeric ginger kraut is my absolute favourite. I love all the ingredients individually but put them together and ferment them for a few days and you have the most delicious zingy, earthy, sweet, salty and sour flavour explosion that looks like summer days, its such a vibrant bright sunshiny yellow colour!

Apart from the amazing taste, each of the ingredients have a myriad of health benefits so go figure, if you add them all together and ferment them, you add even more benefits and a load of gut healing healthy probiotics! I love the fact that whole foods work in synergy and enhance each others effects. Nutrition can't be broken down to individual components, its not a reductionist thing! Foods are more than the sum of their parts! Thats why extracting and concentrating individual minerals, vitamins or antioxidants don't work as well as the whole foods they are extracted from. There is a whole world of interactions between fibre, protein, simple sugars, minerals, vitamins, enzymes, trace elements and co enzymes, which we will never know. It's just too complex!

In my opinion, you can't improve on nature. Eat foods as close to their natural state as possible, as fresh as possible, and be aware of how to enhance their health benefits.

Anyway I digress, The brilliant thing about fermented veggies is you are providing your body with a whole host of probiotic good gut bacteria and the veggies are a food source for them! They thrive on fibre so it makes sense to eat the bacteria and the food at the same time!​Cabbage is a member of the cruciferous family, along with broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and kale, and has amazing gut healing and cancer fighting properties, due to the glucosinolate compounds it contains along with sulphur compounds and lots of vitamins and minerals.

Pineapple contains an enzyme called bromelain which helps to digest protein, and is especially useful for clearing mucous and sinus problems. It is also a great cough suppressant and works just as well as over the counter cough remedies! It's also a powerful anti inflammatory.

Ginger is great for soothing the digestion, relieving nausea and fighting inflammation in the body.

Turmeric is a superstar in the health stakes, it is a powerful anti inflammatory, relieves pain, kills cancer cells and just works on so many levels, you would be missing out on a whole lot of healing power if you didn't include turmeric in your diet! Black pepper enhances the action of turmeric and good quality fat enhancers its absorption even further.

So as I said earlier, if you put all these amazing ingredients together and ferment them with some sea salt, then you have an awesome inflammation fighting superfood, which just happens to taste amazing too!! Bearing in mind that every chronic disease involves inflammation on some level and pretty much all of us will have some low grade inflammation going on somewhere in our body, so we can all benefit from this amazing food. And fighting inflammation is only one of the health benefits of these powerful ingredients, there are many more......

​So do yourself a favour and give this amazing sauerkraut a go!!

All you need is a white cabbage, preferably organic but at least locally sourced, 1/2 pineapple, some fresh ginger and some fresh or powdered turmeric, some sea salt and a large glass jar with a lid.I don't sterilise my jars, just wash them in hot soapy water then rinse them really well to remove any traces of soap.You can buy large glass Mason jars or Kilner jars with clip top lids in most supermarkets. Ikea and Home Bargains are particularly good value!The most important thing to remember when fermenting veggies of any kind, is to keep the veggies submerged in the brine. In order to do this, you need what is called a follower, meaning something to place on top of the veggies, followed by a weight of some sort to hold it all down. A large cabbage leaf works well, with a glass gu pot to weight it down, which fits perfectly in a glass mason jar.Alternatively you can use a ziplock bag, press it down firmly on top of your veggies and fill it with brine solution or water to act as a follower and weight in one! The idea is to keep any small bits of veggies from floating above the brine, which can cause mould or kahm yeast, neither of which you want it your lovely ferment!This is a fast ferment and only takes 4 to 7 days. Fermentation is affected by the temperature, if its too cold your ferment will take longer. 15 to 22 degrees C is the temperature range that the bacteria we are trying to cultivate, function best at, which is essentially room temperature. Keep your jar away from direct sunlight. Your kitchen worktop or a kitchen cupboard is ideal and allows you to keep an eye on it. If any bits of cabbage float to the top then remove them or push them back under the brine. You will see bubbles as the fermentation progresses which is a good sign that all is progressing normally! This is truly delicious and a great accompaniment to any sandwich, wrap, snack, toast, eggs, savoury dish, buffet spread or just eaten as it is. You only need a tablespoon a day to boost your gut bacteria and reap the health benefits!Wee point to remember, please use a clean spoon or fork when taking any of your kraut from the jar. You don't want to introduce any bacteria or moulds and ruin your lovely kraut!​So here is the simple recipe...

Rinse the cabbage and remove one of the outer leaves to use later. Weigh your cabbage before you slice it. It's important to use the correct amount of salt which is 1 tablespoon for 2 lbs /0.9kg veggies, so if you have more than that then add a wee bit more.

Quarter and core the cabbage, discard the core, then slice the cabbage finely. I use my food processor with my fine slicing attachment to save some time!

Transfer the cabbage to a large bowl or a plastic basin and sprinkle it with the sea salt. Start to massage and squeeze it with your hands until it starts to soften and liquid is released. Cover it with a tea towel and leave it for half an hour or so until more liquid is released.

Add the chopped pineapple and grated ginger and mix and squeeze again.

Add the turmeric last, with some freshly ground black pepper and this time use a wooden spoon to give it a good mix. Turmeric stains everything and unless you want stained yellow fingers then either wear disposable gloves, in which case you can give it all a final mix and squeeze with your hands to get the maximum amount of brine.

Start to fill your clean glass jar with the kraut, pressing it down with a wooden spoon or I use the pestle from my mortar and pestle set to give it a good bash. Keep adding the kraut and pressing it firmly as you go to release maximum amount of brine. You want the brine to come above the level of the veggies.

Leave at least an inch of headspace in your jar, add your follower, large cabbage leaf trimmed to fit or a ziplock bag. Tuck it in well and add your weight or add some water to the ziplock bag. Place a bowl or plate underneath it as the active fermentation releases CO2 which can displace some of the liquid, which doesn't smell great!!

If you are using a clip top jar then just seal it and any gas will escape via the rubber seal. If you are using a non clip top jar then open it every day to release any gas build up! You don't want an exploding jar and kraut juice all over the kitchen!!

Taste your kraut after 4 or 5 days and if you are happy with the taste, then transfer it to the fridge where it will keep happily for months, if it lasts that long! You can leave it up to 7 days but keep trying it every day! If left too long the sugar from the pineapple can start to taste a bit funky!

Its a good idea to transfer your finished kraut to smaller glass jars. The less air space in your jar, the less chance of your kraut going mouldy. I normally transfer mine to smaller jars as I use it up!

Hi everyone and welcome to my first blog post of 2018! I have been extremely busy redecorating the house since the new year, it's just what I felt like doing and once I started I couldn't stop!!Sometimes we have to just go with the flow and do what we feel like doing, rather than what we feel we have to!I have decided that I want to be more creative this year and develop a mindfulness and meditation practice and of course spend lots of time with Bruce our VW Camper Van exploring our beautiful country and going to lots of festivals!So that's my plan, hope everyone has some fun things planned for this year!Which brings me back to the purpose of my blog which is to spread the word on the power of food and nutrition to heal us and keep us well so that we can enjoy our lives to the full!I succumbed to the flu type virus that was doing the rounds over the festive season, which brings into sharp focus how awful it is to be unable to do the things we want and spend quality time with our family and friends.

I'm not a fan of taking drugs and think in a way that by taking drugs at the slightest sign of symptoms, we are basically telling our bodies that we don't trust them to heal us. Our immune systems do an incredible job for us, fighting viruses, bacteria and all manner of other ills, if we support them with healing foods and let them get on with it.

​So my plan was to rest in bed for a few days, and boost my immune system with shots of pineapple, ginger, lemon and turmeric, which worked great to suppress my cough, lots of healing soups and fruit to boost my vitamin levels and harness the awesome power of garlic and onions to fight the infection, which I'm happy to say they did! ​It just brings into sharp focus the power of food to heal us on every level! Food is the original medicine, drugs are the new kids on the block!

Garlic is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world. Its usage predates written history! Sanskrit records document the use of garlic remedies approximately 5000 years ago, while the Chinese have been using it for at least 3000 years.Hippocrates and Aristotle cited numerous therapeutic uses for garlic.

Its multifaceted in its healing power. It's antiviral, antibacterial, anti-fungal & anti parasitic. It can clear heavy metals from the colon, fights infection due to colds, flu, strep throat, pneumonia and viral related cancers. It can lower blood pressure, protect the heart and lower cholesterol. Not bad for a lowly garlic clove!!

Many of the therapeutic effects of garlic are thought to be due to the many sulphur containing compounds it contains. It is also an excellent source of Vit B6, manganese, selenium, phosphorous, calcium, potassium and iron.There are 27 known active ingredients in garlic and dozens more that work in ways we haven't discovered yet! Many of these compounds work synergistically in the body to fight infection. Many serious bugs, among them MRSA and staphylococcal strains of bacteria, have developed resistance to most antibiotic drugs, but not to the awesome power of garlic, due to the chemical complexity which these superbugs can't fight! The other interesting thing about garlic is it only kills bad bacteria and leaves all the good guys unaffected, whereas antibiotics wipe out most of the good ones as well as the bad ones, leaving your immune system compromised and your gut microbes decimated!Not good on any level for your health!

Which brings me back to another of my favourite topics, Fermentation!!

Now bearing in mind all the benefits I have just told you about, you can take garlic and boost its power by a large degree by simply fermenting it in a salt brine for a few weeks and then keeping it in the fridge, to use whenever you like! I add it to all my dips and dressings for a real flavour and health boost! It's definitely best used raw to preserve all the probiotic bacteria but you add it to any recipe requiring garlic at the end.

This simple process increases the vitamins, makes them more bioavailable and adds lots of beneficial lactic acid bacteria (the good guys!) So this is indeed a win-win situation!Additionally the strong flavour mellows out during the fermentation process and magically doesn't linger on your breath!The only drawback to making fermented garlic is the number of cloves you have to peel first! However, in my positive world, I see this as some time out, sitting comfortably, listening to some nice music and usually with a nice glass of wine or a lovely coffee, depending on the time of day!!

Mindfulness in action right there!

If you really don't have the time to sit and peel a massive pile of garlic, you can try putting your separated cloves into a big pot, putting the lid on and giving it a good shake! Apparently it works but I haven't tried it myself!Also if possible, buy organic garlic! Best to start with the best quality ingredients you can find!So all you need is a clean glass jar, enough garlic cloves to fill it, some salt water and a few black peppercorns (optional) and some patience! Bearing in mind it takes at least 2 weeks but preferably nearer 4 to ferment, then it's really worth making a lot. It will keep up to a year in the fridge!

FERMENTED GARLIC

Firstly find yourself a decent sized glass jar and give it a good wash in hot soapy water then rinse it well to remove any traces of soap. Then the hard bit, peel loads of garlic, enough to almost fill your jar. Add the peeled garlic cloves to your jar, add some peppercorns if you like! Then make up a 2% brine solution using a good quality sea salt without any additives or anti caking agents! This is simply 20g of sea salt dissolved in a litre of water. It depends on the size of your jar how much brine you will need. If you are using a smallish jar then just make up 500 mls brine with 10 g sea salt.Pour the brine over the garlic cloves and make sure they are totally covered. Leave at least 2.5cm of headspace at the top of your jar. It's a good idea to add a weight of some sort to keep the garlic submerged. A small ziplock bag filled with extra brine works well or a large cabbage leaf or a small glass gu pot. Put your jar out of direct sunlight but at room temperature for at least 2 weeks. I left mine for 6 weeks. You should see small bubbles of carbon dioxide which is a sign that the fermentation is proceeding normally. Once fermented you can store it in the fridge where it will keep happily for up to a year! ​Occasionally some of the garlic cloves turn blue, which is just due to the sulphur compounds and nothing to worry about!!You will find endless ways to use your fermented garlic! It tastes like a cross between raw and roasted garlic and adds great flavour and amazing health benefits to any food you add it to!

​I've been experimenting a bit with options for our Christmas dinner and I've decided on this rather delicious dish!I came across the idea on the rather fabulous plant based blog mygoodnesskitchen and the simplicity of this appealled massively!My criteria for any recipe really, festive or not, is flavour, simplicity and nutrition and this one ticks all the boxes!

Plus it looks great too and is sure to impress your guests!

We stick with vegan options for Christmas although Kathryn always requests a veggie lasagna which isn't festive at all but it's her favourite so we make a separate one for her.We tend to have lots of options and a table full to overflowing with festive fare but we all love cooking and have the time to spare but food is a priority in our house.

The saying there are those who live to eat and those who eat to live and we definitely fall into the first category!!We love food!!So back to this really simple but elegant dish. The most difficult part is cutting holes in the butternut squash! I have a really good plain round cookie cutter which worked really well. I also tried a fluted option which although more difficult to cut through, left a lovely flower shaped hole, although the hole is filled with stuffing mix so just go with the plain option! Cut slices about an inch thick and buy a butternut squash with a long neck end so you can cut a good few slices out!I decided also to try the stuffing mix with portabello mushrooms and it worked really well and was simpler and quicker since the mushrooms don't need pre cooking prior to adding the stuffing and you don't have to cut a hole in them! You just give them a wipe with a damp cloth, put them on a lightly greased baking tray and spoon generous amount of stuffing mix and a wee drizzle of oil then bake them for around 20 minutes or so!​Doesn't get much easier than that!

Okay so the stuffing has a lovely festive flavour from the cranberries, chestnuts and herbs. If you can't find chestnuts then you can replace them with walnuts or hazelnuts. I used Merchant Gourmet vacuum packed cooked chestnuts from Waitrose.Another time saving tip is to use a can of cooked lentils! Then its simply a matter of frying an onion, garlic, herbs then adding the other ingredients and heating it through.I am going to make up my stuffing mix and freeze it so I'll be good to go on Christmas day.If you have fresh sage, rosemary or thyme in the garden then add a good chopped spoonful of all of them. Alternatively you can use dried herbs.I served a slice of squash and a big mushroom with a delicious gluten free, extremely healthy mushroom gravy, which is made with cooked brown rice, mushrooms, stock, herbs, garlic, tamari or balsamic vinegar and optional nutritional yeast flakes! All you do is simmer the mushrooms, stock and cooked rice for 10 minutes then add herbs, garlic and seasoning and blend the lot into a delicious vegan gravy. No faffing around with lumpy flour and butter for me!! The recipe is included at the end of this post.On a health note, cooked and cooled rice, potatoes and pasta have way more benefits for our gut bacteria, due to increased amounts of resistant starch, and everyone knows how much I go on about these wee critters! Its a symbiotic relationship on a massive level, with huge benefits for us, their hosts!So do yourself a favour and provide your gut microbes with a festive feast this year and they will repay you with enhanced health on every level! A feast to these wee guys is fibre, lots of it from different sources, so veggies, fruit, wholegrains, lentils, seeds, nuts, beans and pulses is the way to go! If you decide to make this delicious dish your festive choice then you will be doing your health, your taste buds and your gut microbes a huge favour!

Whatever graces your festive table this year, enjoy it and have a wonderful Christmas...

Here are the simple recipes..

FESTIVE STUFFED SQUASH Ingredients to serve 6

1 large butternut squash, or 2 medium, preferably with a long neck end

If using fresh lentils, then rinse them, add to a pan with double the amount of water to cover and gently simmer for 25 minutes until cooked, then drain them.

Wash the buttternut squash and cut 1 inch slices from the long neck end. You should get between 4 and 6 depending on the size of your squash.

Now the tricky bit! Cut a hole in the middle of each slice using a cookie cutter. You may have to press quite hard to get it through or cut it from both ends and use a knife to loosen the edges but remember the hole will be covered with stuffing mix so it doesn't matter if its perfectly neat or not.

The pieces of squash you have cut out, cut them into small dice to add to the stuffing.

Lightly grease a baking tray and place the slices of squash on it, drizzle or brush with a little oil and season with sea salt and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Add the diced squash to the tray and drizzle with a bit of oil.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large pan and add the onion, diced mushrooms, garlic and fresh thyme leaves. Cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes or so until soft.

Add the cranberries, chopped chestnuts and drained lentils, good pinch of nutmeg and fresh or dried herbs. Check the seasoning.

Take the squash slices out of the oven and add the cooked diced squash to the stuffing mix. Add a good handful of baby spinach and stir until it wilts.

Fill each squash ring with a good spoonful of stuffing mix, drizzle with a little oil and return to the oven for another 20 to 30 minutes until the squash is cooked through.

If you are using Portobello mushrooms then just wipe them, remove the stalks, place on a greased baking tray, fill with the stuffing, add a drizzle of oil and bake in the oven for around 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the mushrooms. You can just omit the cooked diced squash from the stuffing mix if you are only using mushrooms. One large mushroom per person should be fine!

VEGAN MUSHROOM GRAVYIngredients

1 cup of cooked brown rice

125g mushrooms, wiped with a damp cloth and diced finely

500 mls veggie stock

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon tamari or balsamic,or apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes (optional)

sea salt and black pepper

1 tsp dried herbs or fresh sage or thyme

Method

Simply put the rice, chopped mushrooms, stock, garlic and herbs into a small pot and simmer gently for 10 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked.

Blend with a stick blender until smooth then add tamari, vinegar or lemon juice.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, well it is in our house, apart from the fact that we all have a sore throat, so we've not been singing festive songs as much as usual!I've been having sea salt baths with lavender and tea tree, downing shots of turmeric, ginger and lemon and eating loads of Immune boosting soup and fermented garlic!I always use drugs as a last resort once I've given all my natural remedies a chance to work! I'm feeling better but now Kathryn and Laura have a sore throat!! Its always the same at this time of year!

Anyway I'm still in full on festive food mood and have a few more brilliant recipes to share before Christmas!

I came across this recipe on the awesome Kellie Andersons excellent blog food to glowshe has some incredible recipes, mostly plantbased and all delicious and healthy.Her blog is well worth a look, I love her style of cooking and the flavour she manages to pack into her recipes is amazing!

So back to this great recipe...

These wee crackers would make a great gift, presented in a wee bag and tied with twine or ribbon. You can be creative and cut out all sorts of shapes. That's the brilliant thing about making your own stuff, you know exactly what the ingredients are and you can personalise most recipes to suit your own tastes and preferences.

Kids would also love making these and they make a nice change from sweet biscuits covered in icing! These crackers actually taste a little sweet and have a lovely crunch and festive flavour. They would be perfect with a Christmas cheese board (lots of dairyfree vegan cheeses around too) or as an accompaniment to dips or just plain as a wee snack!The recipe makes lots of crackers so I have frozen half the dough and will make more crackers next week when we've eaten all this batch!

I used avocado oil in mine but olive oil or any mild tasting oil would work. Kellie's original recipe added 50 ml orange juice and the zest of a small orange but I didn't have any so I added a bit more water instead and used 1/2 teaspoon of mixed spice instead of ginger.

The trick is to try and roll the dough out fairly thinly for nice crisp crackers. Just be sure to flour your work surface well or use 2 sheets of greaseproof paper and roll the dough on the paper with one sheet on top. You can then put the greaseproof paper directly onto an oven tray.

I just lightly greased and floured 2 baking trays and the crackers crisped up nicely and didn't stick at all!​So here is the slightly adapted recipe..

CRANBERRY & HAZELNUT CRACKERS

Ingredients

120 g wholemeal flour

100g porridge oats

50 ml olive, avocado or rapeseed oil

50 g chopped hazelnuts, lightly toasted

2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds or linseeds

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

25 g dried cranberries, chopped

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons maple syrup, rice syrup or honey

120 ml warm water

1/2 to 1 tsp mixed spice, cinnamon or ginger

Method

Heat the oven to 160 C for a fan oven/ 180 C conventional / 350 F

Put the flour, oats, salt, flax seeds and poppy seeds in a large bowl.

Toast the hazelnuts for 10 mins in a moderate oven, then cool them and rub them between your fingers to remove the skins. Either put them in a bag and bash them with a rolling pin to break them up. Put a tea towel underneath to deafen the noise!

Add the hazelnuts, chopped cranberries and mixed spice to the bowl and mix it all together.

Add the oil, syrup and the water and mix until you have a cohesive dough. You can just use your hands for this. Add extra warm water if the dough is a bit dry. Similarly if the dough is too wet or sticky then sift a bit more flour and mix it in until the dough is smooth. It depends on the flour you use, exactly how much water you need but its not crucial to use exact amounts. Just use your own judgement!

Put the dough in the fridge for at least 30 mins to firm up and make it easier to roll.

Cut the dough into 2 pieces and work with one piece at a time. I actually froze half so just used half the dough which makes plenty of crackers!

Dust your work top well with flour and your rolling pin and roll the dough out as thinly as you dare! Cut out shapes using whatever cutters you fancy or if you don't have any cutters you can use the top of a glass dipped in flour or just roll the dough into a rectangle shape then using a sharp knife mark the dough into squares, rectangles or fingers.

Transfer your crackers to a lightly oiled and floured baking tray and bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, turning the trays halfway through to bake evenly.

Cool on a cooling rack then store in a tupperware container, where they will keep happily for around 2 weeks, if they last that long!!

So this week before all the true frantic madness of Christmas begins, I am sharing a few new recipes which are all worthy of a place at your Festive table, whether you are catering for meat lovers, vegetarians or vegans.

I am a massive fan of mushrooms, lentils and nuts so this is my idea of an ideal starter. Served with some thinly sliced sourdough or delicious crackers (recipe coming soon!)this will surely impress your guests! It can be made a few days in advance and will happily sit in the fridge until you need it. This also works well stirred into a mushroom risotto or as a topping for a baked potato or a pizza!

I've made this a few times and played around with the recipe a bit. The original recipe from the wonderful Dearbhla Reynolds book The Cultured Club uses fermented mushrooms, which adds another layer of flavour and nutrition but since most folks won't have time to ferment the mushrooms first then this adapted recipe is equally delicious and the addition of seaweed flakes adds that unique umami flavour.

There are also lots of fresh herbs in this, all of which I have growing in the garden, so rosemary, sage and thyme and flat leaf parsley all feature in this delicious pate.Garlic, onion, tamari and lemon juice add more flavour and nutrition and the addition of flaxseed and breadcrumbs firm it up so that you have the option of setting the pate in a small loaf tin, which looks rather wonderful and can then be served in slices.

Other options are to set the pate in small individual ramekin dishes or just put it into a serving dish and serve dollops rather than slices! It's whatever suits your needs best and makes life easier! If you are catering for gluten free then you would need to leave the breadcrumbs out or use gluten free ones. I always have a supply of breadcrumbs in the freezer, which are very handy and a great way to use up any slightly stale bread.

So back to the ingredients, any mushrooms will do but I always purchase organic mushrooms. Mushrooms absorb and concentrate whatever they are grown in, good or bad. I'd rather not have a side of pesticide residues or heavy metals with my food, thank you very much! It's always safer to buy organic and most of the supermarkets sell organic mushrooms these days at a reasonable price. Button mushrooms, portabello, chestnut or shitake mushrooms will all work well or indeed a mixture!

I will be making the version with fermented mushrooms for our Christmas dinner! Jenna is home from Cornwall for Christmas and is missing her mamas sourdough, kimchi, krauts and condiments so I'll have to get her gut microbiome restocked while she is here.I have festive kombucha and lots of lovely fermenty things on the go!

So without further ado, here is the recipe....

Decadent Mushroom & Lentil Pate

Ingredients

150 g green lentils

1 tablespoon coconut or rapeseed oil for sauteing the onions

1 small to medium onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, finely sliced or minced

175 g organic mushrooms, wiped with a damp cloth and sliced

140 g toasted walnuts or pecans

2 tablespoons finely chopped sage or flat leaf parsley

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons tamari or balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons finely chopped rosemary and thyme

1 tsp seaweed flakes (optional)

2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds (linseeds)

1/2 cup to 1 cup of breadcrumbs

sea salt and black pepper

Method

Rinse the lentils, put them in a pot with enough water to cover them. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for around 25 to 30 minutes. Once cooked, drain well.

Toast walnuts or pecans in a moderate oven at 160 C for 10 to 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them, you don't want to burn them!

Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onion and garlic for 5 or 6 minutes, then add the sliced mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes or so. If you have a lot of liquid from the mushrooms then drain it or cook it off.

Place the drained lentils, toasted nuts, onion,mushroom & garlic, herbs, lemon juice, tamari and seaweed flakes into a food processor and blitz until well mixed. Add the flaxseeds and breadcrumbs if you want a firmer texture. Process again until well mixed and fairly smooth in texture. You can leave it coarser if you prefer.

Taste and add salt, pepper and more lemon juice or tamari if you feel it needs it.

Transfer to a serving bowl or a well greased small loaf tin, lined with a strip of greaseproof paper and chill in the fridge until firm.

To remove the pate from the loaf tin, run a warm palette knife along the edges to loosen it, then turn it upside down onto a serving plate or board. The greaseproof paper should easily peel off.

I sometimes think that onions are overlooked when it comes to soup, but a good bowl of well made onion soup is an absolute joy and extremely nutritious!Onions are great infection fighters and immune boosters and this is exactly the time of year that we need a wee boost, with all the stress of Christmas preparations, the cold and damp weather and for most of us too much alcohol, chocolate, and junk food. Add to that too many late nights and an never ending to do list, all of which depletes our immune system leaving us vulnerable to whatever bugs are doing the rounds!

But not to worry, onions to the rescue!

I came across this soup recipe in a Sunday magazine and loved the simplicity of it. The onions are simply oven roasted with some herbs, until they are deliciously sweet and tender and then blended with some good quality veggie stock! I use Kallo organic stock cubes or Marigold Bouillon Powder.

Voila, soup done!​The trick is to let the onions roast until they are really soft and deep gold in colourThere are so many varieties of onions! I recently bought some rather lovely pink onions so I used a mixture of pink, red and white onions in my soup but any combination would work.

Onion soup is traditionally served with a slice of toasted bread and cheese on the top but I would rather have a nice slice of sourdough on the side!

I am a big fan of simple recipes that pack a punch in the flavour and nutrition stakes and that's exactly what this soup does. Onions are a staple in most folks kitchen so this soup can be thrown together anytime!

It is absolutely delicious and is a definite contender for Festive entertaining, it's that good!

So without further rambling, here is the simple recipe!​Luxurious Onion SoupIngredients

6 medium onions, red, white, yellow, pink or shallots

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs of rosemary, leaves removed

600ml veggie stock or more

2 or 3 tablespoons olive or rapeseed oil

salt and pepper

Method

Put the oven on at 200C/gas mark 6.

Peel and roughly chop the onions.

Transfer to a roasting tin, add the olive or rapeseed oil, rosemary, 2 bay leaves and a sprinkling of salt and black pepper.

Roast for about 45 minutes, moving them round the pan from time to time.

When the onions are soft and tender, remove the bay leaves and put half the onions aside, then put the other half into a blender with 600ml of vegetable stock, pour into a large saucepan and bring to the boil.

Stir in the reserved onions then bring to the boil and leave to simmer for about 10 minutes. Check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with a swirl of cream and either hemp seeds, chia seeds or some seaweed flakes. I use soya or oatly cream.

I came across this recipe a few weeks ago over at Jessicainthekitchen.com a great blog promoting real wholesome plant based food. Jessica is American, hence the original name Cauliflower Buffalo Wings! Americans are big on chicken wings and eat loads of them, usually deep fried, and extremely unhealthy and produced under terrible conditions. There is nothing healthy about the way these chickens are raised, and cheap food is produced at a real cost to the poor suffering animals and ultimately to our health, if we choose to eat them.

So my plea is to please try these cauliflower ones instead and leave the chicken wings off your plate!

Someone commented on Twitter about Cauliflower having wings, when I shared my photo a few days ago. It made me laugh when they suggested that perhaps you needed to buy GM cauliflower for the wings! Made me think Crispy Cauliflower Wings is a bit of a stupid name so I am renaming them Crispy Cauliflower Bites!

These are just the most delicious, crispy, flavoursome and healthy finger foods on the planet! Perfect food for sharing and you can dip them in whatever dip or sauce you fancy!These are perfect for movie night or a wee pre dinner snack, they are so nutritious you could eat the lot yourself! I genuinely think you could persuade a few vegetable haters to try these or even fussy kids !Please leave me a comment if you manage it!!

I love cauliflower and it has a long season in the UK so readily available and locally grown for quite a few months of the year. I should just add that cauliflower is a bit of a superstar in the health stakes. Its a great source of vit C, vit K, B vitamins, omega 3 fats, magnesium,antioxidants and phytonutrients which protect against cancer. It contains choline for brain health, its anti inflammatory,supports thedigestive system and detoxification.

So quite a few reasons to eat it! I do think that cauliflower tends to get overlooked for its brighter cousin broccoli, but to be honest it has almost as many health benefits! I guess you could make these with broccoli or romanesco too!

These are miles away from soggy cauliflower florets dripping in artery clogging cheese sauce and are so simple yet so nutritious and healthy!They do have a cheesy flavour but it comes from Nutritional Yeast Flakes, which are a godsend for vegans who like cheesy flavour without the dairy!

I would advise everyone to go and buy some, they are packed with all the B vitamins, iron, zinc and protein, and cost around £3.75 from any health food store. In my opinion these are way better than a B vitamin supplement. B vitamins are crucial for energy production and dealing with stress so we could all benefit from them!

​I also use them to make the most delicious Vegan Almond Parmesan, which is packed with flavour and nutrition, from seaweed flakes, garlic, lemon rind, sea salt and ground almonds! Very handy and versatile and way better than old smelly socks parmesan!

So back to the recipe, you need a medium to large cauliflower, broken into bite sized florets. The trick with these is to dip the florets in batter then into breadcrumbs for a fantastic crunchy coating that sticks! They are then simply baked in a hot oven for 20 to 30 minutes so no faffing about with hot oil. I really detest deep frying anything, I just hate the smell of hot oil and it seems to cling to my clothes so I smell all greasy and horrible!!Oven baking is far healthier too so that's always my preferred cooking method for anything crunchy.The batter is just flour and plant based milk, with seasoning. I added cumin, smoked paprika, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to mine but you could add any herbs or spices you like! Top tip from Jessica, if your cauliflower florets are wet, the batter won't stick, so I didn't wash mine I just wiped it with damp kitchen roll!

I always have a bag of breadcrumbs in the freezer. I just blitz any leftover bread in my food processor for instant breadcrumbs. At Nourished by Nature nothing is wasted and since I am always baking lots of sourdough, I generally have spare! And mine is all organic which is even better! I also cut spare sourdough into cubes, freeze them, then oven bake them with some oil and herbs for excellent crunchy croutons!

So to recap these are simply cauliflower florets, dipped in a flour/milk batter, seasoned anyway you like, coated in breadcrumbs, then baked in a hot oven!

Serve with any dipping sauce, chilli sauce, guacamole, tomato salsa or even good old tomato ketchup! I served mine with fermented tomato ketchup, sweetened with maple syrup and naturally fermented for a probiotic hit and fantastic flavour!

I will share the recipe soon!

I also made a tamari/maple/tomato dip which tasted great, it just didn't look good in the photo, it was brown!! If you want to make it, just use equal amounts of tamari/maple syrup and tomato puree. Loosen it up with some oil and add crushed garlic and sea salt!

So here is the very simple recipe....

CRISPY CAULIFLOWER BITESIngredients

I medium cauliflower, broken into florets

1/2 cup flour ( I used chickpea or gram flour)

1/2 cup milk (I used hemp but oat, rice or almond would work too)

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 cup breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes (optional but recommended!)

oil for greasing your baking tray

Method​

Heat your oven to 450 F / 230 C / Gas Mark 8

Break your cauliflower into even bite sized florets, for even cooking.

Mix flour, milk and seasoning in a small bowl to make the batter. I used chickpea flour which is a bit lumpy so I whisked the batter until it was lump free!

Mix the breadcrumbs and nutritional yeast flakes in a separate bowl.

Lightly grease a baking tray with oil. I used rapeseed oil.

Dip the florets into the batter one by one, let any excess drip back into the bowl, then dip them into the breadcrumb mix then put them on the greased baking tray.

Bake the florets for around 20 to 30 minutes, until nicely browned and cooked! I turned the tray halfway for even browning.

Okay this week I'm hanging onto the remnants of summer and sharing another fabulous recipe from the One World Vegan Retreat.This is just summer in a pan and reminds me of warm sunny days!I think we are all aware that the Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest and this dish originates from sunny Spain so join the ranks of the healthy and make this fantastic dish a regular part of your repertoire!It is a real crowd pleaser, it's so colourful and tastes amazing!Fiesta relates to the wonderful colours of all the veggies. Eat the rainbow for vibrant good health and this paella has all the colours, as you can see from my vibrant photo!We have made it twice since the retreat and it is delicious. You can vary the veggies according to what you have available and your personal tastes. We have used cubed aubergine instead of fennel, mushrooms could easily replace artichokes, since they are a bit of an acquired taste but I rather like them!Most supermarkets sell artichokes in a jar, usually beside the antipasti, sun dried tomatoes and olives, I bought mine from Aldi and they are a great price and perfect for this dish.You can add frozen peas or sweetcorn instead of the beans and/or fennel and just leave the artichokes out if you don't like them.

Flavour is provided by smoked and sweet paprika, two of my favourite spices! Oh and turmeric for amazing health benefits and colour and garlic just because it adds amazing flavour and is natures antibiotic! Great to include loads of it as we move into colder weather, and who wants to succumb to colds and flu, most definitely not me!

It is essential when making paella to use the right kind of rice! You need short grain white rice or paella rice, most supermarkets stock it. It's different to risotto rice which is stickier and not what you want. Gloopy paella is not great!

A top tip from Lee, don't stir your paella, its not like risotto! This is a good thing which makes this a perfect dinner party dish! No standing over a hot stove while your guests are knocking back the wine! There is actually wine in this so a great reason to crack open a bottle and have a wee glass while you are prepping all your veggies!

This is a wonderful dish to take straight to the table, it has a real wow factor and can easily be served at the table. Some delicious artisan bread is a lovely accompaniment and of course a nice big glass of wine!I served mine with a 3 day fermented delicously tangy freshly baked spelt sourdough!Yum and extra brownie points for me! I also used my homegrown wee yellow tomatoes, my other tomatoes are all still green! I will be making some green tomato chutney and fermented green tomatoes, I have loads of them! Maybe my next blog post....

Here is the recipe.....

FIESTA PAELLA

Ingredients - Serves 4 to 6

275g paella or short grain rice

1 onion, finely chopped

4 tablespoons olive or rapeseed oil

1 red, green and yellow pepper, de-seeded and cut into thin strips

1 fennel bulb, cut into thin strips

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 bay leaves

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp turmeric

Glass of white wine, approx 175ml

900ml boiling vegetable stock

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

10 mini plum or cherry tomatoes, halved

4 small artichokes, quartered (from a jar)

tin of cannelini, flageolet or chickpeas, drained

10 pitted black olives, halved

4 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

1/4 cup toasted almonds (optional)

2 lemons, cut into 8 wedges for serving

Method

​Ideally you want a big flat wide frying pan for this. Heat the oil in your pan and cook the onions for 5 minutes, then add the peppers and fennel, and cook for 10 minutes more, until a lovely golden colour.

Add the garlic, bay leaves , spices and the rice and give it a good stir.

Cook gently for 2 minutes.

Add the wine and leave it to boil for a minute or so, then add the stock, a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Bring back to the boil then reduce the heat to very low and leave it alone to simmer for 25 to 30 minutes or until almost all the stock has been absorbed. This will depend on the size of your pan! The wider the pan the quicker the liquid evaporates.

Don't be tempted to stir it as that will make it go stodgy. You want a nice almost toasted base to the rice but there is a fine line between toasted and burnt so keep an eye on it and also use your nose! If you smell burning, turn the heat off!

Taste a bit of the rice and add more salt and pepper if needed. Turn the heat off, scatter the tomatoes, artichokes, beans and olives, then cover with tin foil and leave it for 10 minutes.

Before you take it to the table, garnish with flat leaf parsley, toasted almonds and lemon wedges.

I am frequently asked when I am writing a book, if I am writing a book or if already have one and the answer to that is not any time soon, probably never and no!

Biggest procrastinator right here......

Anyway one of the reasons I started the blog was to share recipes and knowledge freely with anyone interested in eating plant based for health. ​There are so many amazing books on plant based & vegan cooking that it becomes overwhelming and in all honesty we don't need hundreds of different recipes. Most folks buy cookery books then never make anything and I have to admit even I am guilty of that but in my defense I buy a lot of books, for research purposes!

I have to say that I love nothing better than settling down to read a new cookery book, its one of lifes pleasures, and planning which recipes to try first. I am old fashioned in that I prefer a good old book made of paper than on line or e books but there is a place for them and to be honest its much easier to upload a wee selection of recipes.I am always drawn to healthier options and will often adapt recipes to make them more healthy. The majority of the recipes I share are vegan and in fact all of the recipes in my wee e book are vegan.

So this brings me back to this wee E book, which I have to admit, Jenna my rather creative daughter put together for me!I would never have got around to it, technology is not my thing and it would be beyond my capabilities to format and put this book together, so big thanks to Jenna for doing it for me.We all have strengths and weaknesses and no one is good at everything. I prefer to focus on what I am good at and not stress out about the things I'm not! In my opinion, asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness!!Jenna put a similar wee book together many years ago when she was raising money to go to Sri Lanka and India to volunteer with street kids.In true Jenna style, she didn't want to just do the usual sponsored event, so decided to focus on her strength at the time, which was her passion for vegan cooking.She hosted vegan dinner parties and just asked people to pay what they thought it was worth. They were a huge success and everyone loved the food, even though there was not one vegan among them!Jenna put together a fab wee book with her recipes, and some lovely photos and quotes, and we sold 150 of them. Everyone who attended the dinner parties bought at least one and most people ordered an extra one. I still have the book and I always said if I ever did get around to writing a book, I would keep it simple and follow Jennas format. Tried and tested family favourite recipes, all simple but delicious and healthy, with lovely photos and a few wee favourite quotes, which is exactly what this book is.The photographs with the quotes are Jennas. She is also an ace photographer!

Back to the book, it has 4 sections;Nourishing Soups & SaladsEnergising SnacksWholesome MealsUplifting Treatsand there is a very useful Cupboard Essentials List at the beginning, with all you need to stock up a healthy kitchen.The last page of the book lists all the recipes in Categories with links to each individual recipe which is a useful way to find your favourites and save you time scrolling through the whole book!

Its really simple to download the book, just click on the link above the Subscribe box and the book will magically be downloaded to your device!

Alternatively, you can print the book out!!

Our health is our greatest asset and there is no time like NOW, to introduce healthier options.

I can guarantee that all the recipes in the book are absolutely delicious and will wow your taste buds, nourish and energise your body and impress your family and friends!

You have nothing to lose and lots to gain so go ahead and download the book, remember its free and you will give you access to lots of my favourite recipes in one place!

You can also Subscribe to the blog, if you haven't already, so you won't miss any new recipes. Just put your details in the boxes and click Subscribe and you're all signed up!

I would appreciate any feedback from anyone who downloads my wee book!​